(from Laughter is the best medicine: the benefits of humor and laughter, an article from helpguide.org. )

2. Apply the “significance test” to what is upsetting you so much:

Will I even remember this  annoyance:

• next year?
• next month?
• next week?
• tomorrow?

Most of the things that distress us so much are barely remembered later on. Prove this for yourself:  

For the next week, write down all the things that cause you distress. Then, every now and then over the coming weeks, read through your list and see how you feel about these things, now you have a bit of emotional distance from them.

You’ll probably find taht, given enough time,  hardly anything continues to score highly on your  “Angst Richter Scale”.

I’m not saying that we should never get upset when some service provider is incredibly rude or incompetent, or when we get a speeding fine in the pettiness of circumstances, or  our friend shows incredible lack of empathy at a time we badly wanted it, or  when someone unfairly(or fairly!) criticises us.   These things will upset us — but the upset   is remarkably short-lived!   If we just remember this, (This too shall pass!) maybe we can  avoid letting these upsets from ruining whole days of our lives  or losing us friends because of our harsh reactions to hurt feelings, or forever losing our composure and good humour to degenerate into “ranting and raving” heebie-jeebies!

So next time, when you are just starting to get worked up about something, remember to ask the  “grounding” question:

“Will this really matter in a year’s time or next week  — or even tomorrow?”

3. The story behind “this too shall pass”:

^{“It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence, to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words: “And this, too, shall pass away.” How much it expresses! How chastening in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of affliction!”(from an address by Abraham Lincoln in 1859, cited in this Wikipedia article).}

4. Heed the advice of the wise:

1.  The one important thing I have learned over the years is the difference between taking one’s work seriously and taking one’s self seriously. The first is imperative and the second is disastrous.

– Margot Fonteyn

 

2.  You find yourself refreshed by the presence of cheerful people. Why not make an earnest effort to confer that pleasure on others? Half the battle is gained if you never allow yourself to say anything gloomy.

– Lydia Maria Child

 

3.  One loses so many laughs by not laughing at oneself.

– Sara Jeannette Duncan

 

4.  You grow up the day you have your first real laugh at yourself.

– Ethel Barrymore

 

5.  You can turn painful situations around through laughter. If you can find humor in anything, even poverty, you can survive it.

– Bill Cosby 
 

6.  In every job, relationship, or life situation there is inevitably some turbulence. Learn to laugh at it. It is part of what you do and who you are.

– Allen Klein